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Benghazi furor hindered crucial work

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Congress has invested more in the Benghazi Four tragedy than its expressions of compassion for
the nearly 7,000 U.S. service members killed and more than 60,000 physically and mentally wounded
in our two most recent wars.

Only recently was it acknowledged that Ambassador Chris Stevens exercised poor judgment by
bringing his staff to that volatile, high-risk area after earlier declining added security. So the
primary point of accountability rests with Stevens, who already paid the ultimate price, and truth
makes it harder to keep the issue alive until 2016.

• Placing hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizens in harm’s way to capture/kill two leaders.

• Leaving the primary military objective to be accomplished by two small, special-forces
teams.

• Allowing for a prolonged occupation, with failed nation-building and continued chaos.

• Approving the financing of a $3 trillion war with a Chinese credit card.

• Being unprepared to implement a system to reduce the national debt.

On the world scene, our Benghazi loss was a minor incident. On the national scene, preoccupation
with a singular event 14 months ago delays dealing with major domestic issues of budget,
immigration, education and tax reform or devoting energy toward job creation, rebuilding our
crumbling infrastructure and resolving differences on health care.